Internet traffic in Q2 2020 grew by close to 50% from the same period of 2019 yet the total income of the electronic communications market in H1 dropped by 5.4%, the Croatian Regulatory Authority for Network Industries (HAKOM) said this week.

The electronic communications market in Q2 was affected by the continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic, with primary and secondary schools as well as institutions of higher education having held online classes, just as many companies across the country introduced teleworking.

Considering the situation, data traffic and the number of mobile phone minutes grew as expected compared to the same period of 2019, with data traffic in April this year reaching record high consumption compared to all previous measuring, 191 PB, a 58 percent increase on April 2019.

Quarterly, data traffic grew by 46 percent from the same period of 2019, HAKOM said.

The total number of outgoing mobile network minutes also grew, by 18 percent from Q2 2019. At the same time, the total mobile services revenue dropped by 17 percent.

In Q2, own users’ roaming minutes dropped by 20 percent as did the duration of roaming phone calls by foreign nationals, by 52 percent from Q2 2019, also a result of the pandemic and travel ban.